Expansion and renovation add eatery to Frisco's Foote's Rest

Summit Daily/Mark Fox
Kelly Foote has been busy recently installing a tent and renovating an historic cabin at Foote's Rest on Main Street Frisco. The tent will be heated throughout the winter for banquets and special events along with being open for breakfast and lunch from the full service commercial kitchen which is being installed in the cabin. The tent will have a full service bar in the venue and Summit County chef Steve Sparks will be the new chef for Foote's Rest Eatery.

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Most people would be content with renovating a number of historic buildings and opening a successful sweet shop in the course of just two years. But Kelly Foote, owner of Foote's Rest property on Frisco's Main Street, is not most people. A month after the sweet shop opened in June, Foote started planning his next project - the Foote's Rest Eatery.

The eatery plans to cater to the hungry breakfast crowd in the morning and the relaxed, fun-seeking crowd in the afternoon and evening. One of the cabins behind the sweet shop is being converted into a full commercial kitchen, while at the same time retaining its outwardly rustic and historic look.

Breakfast options will feature homemade donuts, as well as other morning food staples such as breakfast burritos and huevos rancheros, which can all be ordered to go. Though the menu has yet to be finalized, Foote's Rest Eatery will also offer lunch and a limited dinner option. Desserts will come from the sweet shop, including its ice cream, shakes, malts and more, as well as specialty hot winter drinks.

"We're trying to offer a different style of breakfast ... by making homemade donuts," Foote said. "Everything's going to be custom. We're taking the best breakfasts we've ever had across the country [to] put them onto one menu and serve them up to the public."

A large white tent beside the sweet shop will serve as the eatery area, encompassing rows of picnic tables, a large bar and a space for live entertainment. Those thinking that a tent might not be great idea in winter would be mistaken. It offers ample space, is rated for winds up to 90 mph and secured into the ground with large amounts of concrete. Also, it's fully heated, which Foote says might mean the grass beneath it will continue to grow.

"Everything is kind of relaxed and casual, so people can come in off the street in their snow gear," Foote said of the eatery. "It's just meant to be a friendly, relaxed place where people can enjoy themselves."

Designated areas for skis, snowboards and other winter equipment will give customers a chance to put down their stuff and relax in the warmth of the tent. Family is an important focus at Foote's Rest, and they plan to keep their fire pit blazing. Kids will have the chance to roast marshmallows, or play in the snow behind the tent. Foote said he might even build snow forts, depending on the amount of snow available.

The point of the eatery is to be "something different, something unique, something that you can't really do on any other piece of property on any Main Street," Foote said. He wants visitors to be able to experience the property the way he did as a child.

"We'd come out here as kids. We would have the bonfire, and play horseshoes in the middle of winter. It was fun," said Foote. "It's something that we want to expand and let other people enjoy, and build on what we've always been doing as kids growing up here."

The history of Foote's Rest parallels that of Frisco. Several of the cabins on the property were built in the 1880s. The large white building, which is now the sweet shop, began as a small cabin itself, and served as an assay office - where miners had their gold and silver assessed. Throughout the years, builders continued to add on, and the building served a number of functions, including grocery store and post office.

The Foote's took over the property in 1941 and gave it the name of Foote's Rest, which it still carries today. The sweet shop hosts several historic displays of items related to the building's past, and an informative plaque can be found outside.

Kelly Foote spent time on the property during his childhood, and moved to Frisco from California to take over in 2010. His goal has been to preserve the historic nature of the site, while at the same time improving it and bringing business to Frisco's Main Street.

"My family has worked tirelessly to preserve [this property]. This is our last step in providing an economic engine for the town as well as making sure that our family can sustain the property," he said.

Foote says that he and his employees are excited to start on the new venture, and he hopes the public is too. The eatery is scheduled to open after Thanksgiving, around the end of the month. To his future customers, Foote offers this guarantee: